


The Shortcomings of Being a Vigilante

by rvnwyn



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, i guess?, sorry about that, this started out as a character study and then transformed along the way?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22188742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvnwyn/pseuds/rvnwyn
Summary: Jason gets punched by the Riddler. He is not amused.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	The Shortcomings of Being a Vigilante

Bruce drove silently towards home inside the Batmobile. The night had been a tiring yet simple one. The rogues must be getting bored lately, Bruce thought, because Riddler suddenly thought it was a good idea to turn the whole city into a puzzle track where him, Red Hood and Red Robin had to race to in order to save the countless innocent civilians held hostage.

They had solved his puzzles and apprehended the Riddler pretty easily. Jason and Tim took him to the GCPD and then returned to the Batcave while Bruce stayed a little longer, watching over the hostages they had rescued and assisting the local authorities to fully dispose of the bombs without any complications.

As the first sunlight of the day began shining upon him, he arrived in the Cave and got out of the Batmobile to see Jason and Tim sitting on the circular table in the middle, munching on sandwiches that were undoubtedly prepared by Alfred, since they had the crusts cut off.

They had been getting along better lately, considering that Jason tried to kill Tim when they first met, and they couldn't hold a conversation for more than a minute without screaming at or trying to fatally maim each other for the next two years.

Bruce understood why. It was mainly his fault.

Then not a long while ago, after the earthquake hit, Gotham was declared a no man's land and closed its borders, countless people stuck inside with nowhere else to escape to. The first week, Bruce dedicated himself to saving the survivors in the wreckages. After that, he only ever found bodies. Even he started to lose hope, and he called for help.

Jason answered the call and came back home. He never left after that.

It was ironic, in a way. It was always tragedy that divided them, and it was always tragedy that united them.

As his two sons sat bickering back and forth about something he couldn't help but overhear in the echoing cave, he snickered to himself before composing his posture once again and approaching the table with his signature stoic but determined look. He needed to type up his reports before his precious 2 hours of sleep of the day, but he figured he could take some time to just sit.

As he sat down and took his cowl off, he gave himself permission to look at them both and smile softly. Maybe it was because he was tired.

Bruce had visibly relaxed since Jason came back home. Jason never really understood what had happened to Bruce between his death and his return back home, that's why he couldn't tell the difference. Tim, on the other hand, could. He smiled back, savoring the very rare moment.

"The Riddler! Out of all people!" Jason cried suddenly, as Tim tried to stifle a laugh beside him. As Jason turned his head back towards him to bury it in his hands, Bruce saw the faint bruise forming on his left eye.

Even though the wound looked far from serious, he still couldn't help but ask. "Are you okay?"

Jason raised his head at an instant. "I got punched by the Riddler, Bruce! I am not okay! There were civilians watching!"

Tim was outright laughing, which made Jason even more mad, and he proceeded to slam his hands on the table. "When you get punched by Bane? Congratulations. You survived getting punched by Bane. Killer Croc? Be grateful there isn't more damage. And- "

As Jason fumbled his hands around Tim cut off with an amused look and added. "Harley? She could wreck you in 2 seconds if she wanted."

"Yeah, and Poison Ivy? Just be grateful she didn't take your head as a trophy. Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze... acceptable. Happens to the best of us at some point." He took a deep breath and buried his head back into his hands. "But... The Riddler? The MOTHERFUCKING Riddler..."

As Steph came down from the stairs of the Manor into the Cave carrying her two other plates of sandwiches, she was already laughing. "Is he crying about the punch from the Riddler?"

Jason suddenly raised his head as Steph put down one of the plates in front of Bruce and one in front of the chair she then sat on. He squinted at her and opened his mouth to say something, but then looked thoughtful for one moment and closed it again. Bruce, in the midst of this, was happily eating his sandwich. Alfred had made it with cheddar.

Steph suddenly had a comforting look on her face and she added. "Don't worry. It doesn't look as bad as the footage made it out to be."

Jason's mind, at that point, short-circuited because he stared off into the distant for three seconds before he turned back over to Steph and asked with the most quiet voice possible. "What footage?"

"It's on Twitter." Steph casually said as she took another bite, which made Jason freeze once again after Tim loudly gasped. She took out her phone and set it on the center of the table for everyone to see. Jason, still not moving, only moved his eyes towards the screen as Tim moved closer to get a better look. Bruce would never admit it, but even he was a little bit amused. Maybe.

The video was obviously taken with a phone by a civilian and showed Red Hood and Red Robin escorting the Riddler into custody in front of the GCPD building. Then, all of a sudden, the Riddler freed his hand from Jason's grasp and delivered what seemed to be a surprising punch on his face. Jason staggered back for two steps and Riddler's attempt at an escape was stopped by Red Robin in approximately half a second as he caught the Riddler with his left arm and steadied Jason with his right. There were audible ahh's from the little audience they had, and the video ended right after.

The video stopped and Tim turned towards Jason to look at his reaction. Jason, snapping away from his trance, spoke calmly. "Great. My vigilante career is over. Thank you to Batman for this opportunity and the Rogues of Gotham for keeping me employed but I will be retiring to live amongst the cattle in a mountain from now on since my dignity is now in shambles."

"It isn’t that bad." Bruce tried to help but his comment made Jason visibly pout.

"I got punched by the Riddler once." Bruce added quickly, which made all three people in the table turn to him with their mouths open. "Back when he first appeared in ’99. It was my second year. I underestimated him and he managed to punch me before I could catch him."

He took another bite out of what was left of his sandwich and quietly got up as everyone stared back at him, in shock. He didn’t try to hide his amusement as he walked away. 

Maybe it was because he was tired.

But he was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! And yes I added Jason to the No Man's Land storyline because I can.


End file.
